NASCAR WWEST: Points Leader Mark Reed Will Race in SWT
Posted By Terry Callahan
Motorsports Editor, The Auto Channel
June 8, 2001The NASCAR Winston West Series is idle until the race June 30th at Evergreen Speedway, therefore Mark Reed and the Food 4 Less Motorsports team are switching their focus to the Featherlite Southwest Series. The team will compete in the Food 4 Less 150 at Irwindale Speedway on June 9th and the Snap-On Tools 200 at Sears Point on June 23rd.
Reed currently leads the point chase in the Winston West Series by 33 points over Brendan Gaughan. "It will be nice to go to the track this weekend and not have to worry about the points battle", said Reed from his shop on Wednesday. "We're only racing in 7 Featherlite Southwest Series events this year and our primary goal is to finish in the top-5 and win when the opportunity presents itself". So far this season, Reed finished 5th at Irwindale Speedway in April and 3rd last month at the Bullring at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. "This is a new Victory Circle chassis that we finished in late March", explains Reed. "We're still learning about the set-ups for it, but if we keep getting it better, we should be able to visit victory lane soon". Reed admits that it won't be easy to pull off a victory in the Food 4 Less 150 Saturday night. "Craig (Raudman) and (M.K.) Kanke have been really strong this year", said Reed. "There are also a number of other teams running for the series championship that can step up and win at any time. Since we're not running all of the races, it will be difficult for us to come in and beat these guys at their game". Since Reed hasn't had the opportunity to test his Southwest Series car, he's hoping some of the knowledge the team has gained from testing and racing the Winston West car will be helpful. "We applied some shock absorber information from our win at the Bullring at Las Vegas Motor Speedway on March 1st to the race on May 6th in the Southwest Series", Reed explains. "Hopefully our set-up from our 2nd place Winston West finish at Irwindale last month will help us Saturday night".
Even though Reed does not predict a win in the Food 4 Less 150, he does know how big it would be for his program. Food 4 Less, who refers to their employees as "members", will be hosting a member appreciation night at Irwindale Speedway on Saturday. There will be over 400 Food 4 Less members/guests in attendance at the track. "This will be the largest hospitality event we have ever done", said Reed. "Many of the members have met me or seen the Food 4 Less simulator car at their store, but haven't had an opportunity to come to a race. It would be very special to get a win for them".
Food 4 Less is the "Official Grocery Store" of Irwindale Speedway.
Text provided by Doug Stokes
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